Make Calls with Skype from Your Kindle Fire HD

With Kindle Fire HD comes a camera and microphone that don’t allow you to take photos or videos. What they do allow you to do is to make video calls to others using the popular Skype app, for which you may already have an account. The Skype app for Kindle Fire HD is free, but you will have to download it from the Amazon Appstore.

When you have downloaded the app, tap Apps from the Home Screen and then follow these steps:

Tap the Skype app to open it. On the Welcome to Skype screen, tap Continue, and tap Accept on the following screen to accept terms and conditions.

In the screen shown, enter a Skype Name and Password.

If you’ve never created a Skype account, tap the Create an Account button at this point and enter your name, Skype Name, a password, e-mail address, and phone number to create your Skype account.

Tap the Sign In button and, on the following screen, tap Continue.

On the screen that appears, you can tap on three options to make calls:

Contacts: This displays a list of contacts saved in your Kindle Fire HD’s Contacts app. Tap one and then tap the Call button (it’s green with a little phone handset in it) to place a call.

Recent: This displays recently made calls so you can tap on one to call the person again.

Call Phones: This displays the screen shown. Enter the number you want to call in the field at the top of the screen and then tap the Call button to place the call.

Here are a few more tips to remember about using Skype on your Kindle Fire HD:

You need to have credits to call people who aren’t Skype users. Go to Skype and sign in with your account information to buy credits.

From the Skype main screen on Kindle Fire HD, you can tap the Profile button and enter a message that’s shared with all of your contacts, such as the phone number you use to accept Skype calls.

You can tap the Status icon (a small white box with a check mark in it) to indicate that you’re online, away, or unavailable to callers.

You can tap the Menu button (it looks like three vertical dots) in the top-right corner of the Skype app main screen and then tap the Settings option to access settings for receiving incoming calls, syncing contacts, signing in automatically, and so on.